On Monday, according to AFP, Indonesia's government issued a joint ministerial decree ordering the Ahmadiyah sect to "stop spreading interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam" such as "the spreading of the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Mohammed." However the government did not dissolve the group as had been recommended in April by the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society. (See prior posting.) Islamists who have wanted the government to dissolve the sect are calling for "jihad" if he does not do so. Moderates, on the other had, fear that the government's order already is inconsistent with Indonesia's image as a democracy.
UPDATE: The June 16 Jakarta Post carries an interview with National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim who is critical of the government decree. He says it violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and gives the government too much power to interfere with religion.
